This time, the
New York Islanders rallied in the third period, but the result was the same.
Jeff Tambellini erased a 2-1 deficit with 4:16 remaining in regulation to force overtime, but former Islanders defenseman Roman Hamrlik beat Martin Biron 92 seconds into the extra session to lift the
Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 victory at the Bell Centre on Monday night.
It was the fourth overtime win already this season for the Habs, who also won their previous game over the Rangers, 5-4, in the extra period.
"There was an opportunity to jump into the play and it just happened," said Hamrlik, who took a nifty feed from
Tomas Plekanec on the game-winner. "Overtime is going our way, but you don't want to go to OT, you want to win in 60 minutes."
Jaroslav Spacek broke a scoreless tie when he beat Biron at 13:34 of the first period, but Tambellini -- who enjoyed the first two-goal game of his NHL career -- notched the equalizer when he made a nifty individual play from behind the net to get one past Jaroslav Halak for a power-play goal with 1:42 left in the second period.
Spacek and Hamrlik also teamed together on the blue line to help shut down the Isles' top line of
John Tavares,
Kyle Okposo and
Matt Moulson.
"They gave us offensive production as well as playing most of the time against the top line," Canadiens coach Jacques Martin said. "That was Spacek's first goal and we expected more offense from him this year, but when (Andrei) Markov and (Ryan) O'Byrne went down, they're been given the mandate of playing against the other teams' top lines.
"They've done that and they are plus players (Spacek is plus-5 and Hamrlik plus-3). I'm happy with what they bring."
Montreal (6-5-0) restored the lead at 7:44 of the third when
Travis Moen crashed the net and slid one just over the goal line for his third goal of the season. Tambellini, who also scored on Saturday night against Washington, one-timed Moulson's feed past Halak late in the third to help the Islanders earn a point for the sixth time in their first 10 games.
The loss dropped the Islanders to a bizarre record of 1-4-5. They'll host the New York Rangers on Wednesday.
"We're taking only the positives out of this game," Tambellini said. "We found a way to come back twice in a really hostile environment."
-- Brian Compton, NHL.com
WATCH
